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Back on British Soil; U.S. Chopper Down in Iraq; Fund-Raising 101; Disabled Greek Ship; New Stability Control and What It Means for Consumers; Director of "A Christmas Story" Dies

Aired April 05, 2007 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Kyra Phillips.

They are showing us the money, but what do they plan to do with it? Put on your thinking caps for fund-raising 101.

LEMON: And a safer ride. The feds push for it. How much will you pay for it?

KEILAR: And speaking of rides, amusement park neighbors pull the chill on a thriller.

No screaming allowed, in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: It is the top of the hour. And we start with a developing situation coming from New Jersey. Reddington, New Jersey, is where it's happening. You are seeing all of those FBI agents and armed officers there.

CNN has confirmed an FBI agent has been shot in all of this. Shot as they were investigating a string of bank robberies in that central New Jersey area. A PNC bank, a shootout ensued there. One of the suspects fled into the woods. An FBI agent was shot and killed. And they are still looking, searching, for two other suspects by helicopter, with dogs, and by foot.

Details still to come right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

KEILAR: Let's get back to a story now we're following out of the Mediterranean Sea. A Greek cruise ship is listing, taking on water here. There were about 1,200 passengers on board. Many of them are Americans, and that includes at least 30 students from the Raleigh, North Carolina, area.

We understand, also, in addition to those 1,200 who were evacuated, about 400 cruise ship employees. This is the Greek-flagged Sea Diamond. It apparently struck rocks. If you're not familiar with Santorini, this Greek island, it's a volcanic island, and the ship hit a reef inside the volcano's lake-like lagoon.

Coming up, we're going to be speaking with Denise Land (ph). She is the mother of one of the boys, one of the students from the Raleigh area who was on board. We'll talk with her coming up.

LEMON: In the meantime, Brianna, a nations exhale. Fifteen British families are right now celebrating the safe return of their sailor or their marine. At the end of a 13-day staring contest with Iran, it's still unclear who, if anybody, blinked. But today is a day for tears, and also hugs and smiles.

And ITN's Helen Callaghan is at a marine base in north Devon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HELEN CALLAGHAN, REPORTER, ITN: This is the day that these family the have been waiting for. They didn't dare believe that it would ever happen, but now their loved ones are back on British soil, and that's exactly what they've been praying for the last 13 days or so.

I was with some of the families over the last few days, and they were telling me what an emotional roller-coaster they've been on. Just relief, really, when they heard yesterday what was going to happen. But they were cautiously optimistic, I suppose, stoical, really, just trying to hang in there, waiting for their loves ones to actually come home. And now, finally, they've been reunited with them.

So, really, here, they were just so anxious before they arrived, and now that they've seen them, there have been tears aplenty. There have been hugs and there have been kisses.

We're being told here really at the naval base that it depends on what the sailors and marines want to do next. It is really up to them. They deserve a bit of downtime, said their minders today. And they know that the first thing they will want to do is to have a chat with their families, to be reunited with them, and just to have perhaps a dinner tonight, more than anything else.

They'll probably stay here in Devon tonight. And then they'll be debriefed over the next couple of days.

Really, it's informal at the moment. They are having a physical check. They are having psychological assessment, and that kind of thing. Even perhaps toxicology tests, we're told as well.

But, of course, there will be intelligence that various authorities need to glean from these people. And that will be done at various intervals between their meetings with their families.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: "For all of us, a dream come true." Those words from the 15 British sailors and marines who are now exactly where they want to be, home.

Well, that wasn't the case 24 hours ago. They were in custody in Iran. Why they were released, how they were released, still the subject of discussion. Let's bring in Aneesh Raman now. He's in Amman, Jordan -- Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brianna.

He was all smiles yesterday, the Iranian president, after granting a pardon to the British military personnel. But indications now out of both Tehran and London suggest he wasn't really the one calling the shots.

So, who was? In principle, Iran's supreme leader, the Ayatollah Khomenei. But in practice, a man named Ali Larijani. He's the secretary of the country's National Security Committee.

He is seen as a pragmatist in terms of international diplomacy, and he is also, by the way, the country's chief nuclear negotiator. That's causing some hope to emerge it the region that perhaps new momentum can be found to finding a diplomatic resolution on that front.

In the larger sense, it seems this is what Iran was doing: having the standoff last long enough to show Iranian resolve and strength, but not so long that Iran hit a point of no return in terms of international isolation. And they seem to have hit that mark on Tuesday, even without a public apology from the British government. They felt they could do one better with those orchestrated images of compassion -- Brianna.

KEILAR: You know, Aneesh, we talked yesterday and you said this was sort of an opportunity for Iran to look like the bigger nation, to be benevolent. But one of the main concerns of the U.S. government is always how influential is Iran in the region?

So what are Iran's neighbors saying about this whole ordeal?

RAMAN: Well, it was interesting. During this standoff, privately officials throughout the Middle East were to worried in terms of where this was heading. It started as a territorial dispute, but as the days progressed, the stakes grew higher. There was fear it would blossom into something much bigger. But after the diplomacy started to kick in -- and we assume that to be the case in the past few days -- there was a sense of ease.

Iran, of course, is a rising power, if not already risen. It's a Shia power. It raises some concern from Sunni governments, like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, for example.

They've been concerned about Iran's rising power, but publicly they didn't really say much. They weren't keen to get in to the middle of this. But I think everyone in this region breathing a bit of relief, a sigh of relief that it's now over.

KEILAR: And also, Prime Minister Tony Blair talking about how international pressure in this really played a role, in addition to just bilateral discussions with Iran.

Is there a sense that other countries in the region played a role in the release?

RAMAN: Yes, we have a sense that Saudi Arabia played a role, that Iraq played a very public role. Its foreign minister almost immediately calling for an end to this situation. But perhaps, most interestingly, is that Syria, it seems, played a role.

Iran and Syria have had a very unnatural but close alliance it's formed out of mutual isolation in the past year or so. It's always been seen that Iran is sort of the big brother in that alliance, but Syria, it seems, was able to show some strength that it possesses in terms of what the West is looking for Syria to do by influencing Iran.

We don't know to what extent Syria influenced Iran or these other governments, like Qatar, in the region, but it does seem to be that they had a role to play. That there was broader stakes in terms of the Middle East stability that were playing out here, and that they got involved.

KEILAR: Aneesh Raman reporting life for us from Amman, Jordan.

Thanks for that, Aneesh.

LEMON: Another U.S. helicopter has crashed in Iraq, and investigators want to know whether enemy fire brought it down.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen joins us now from Baghdad -- Frederik.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, this was a Black Hawk helicopter that went down south of Baghdad today. And you're absolutely right, initial reports seem to indicate that this helicopter was indeed taking incoming enemy fire shortly before it went down. Now, it's not clear whether it was this machine gun fire that actually brought the helicopter down, or whether the pilot simply realized that he was taking hits from the ground and decided to land that helicopter as fast as possible.

Now, there were nine service members on board the helicopter, and four of them were injured when this helicopter made this hard landing. Now, this is the ninth U.S. helicopter to go down over Iraq this year, and the United States military is very much concerned about its helicopters here in Iraq, and about insurgents maybe having devised some new form of strategy of bringing U.S. helicopters down, be it by newer and more sophisticated weapons, or by simply using their old weapons with new tactics -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Now, Frederik, what can you tell us about a friendly fire incident from back in February that the U.S. Army is now reporting?

PLEITGEN: Yes, this is about the deaths of two U.S. service members in early February. And the U.S. military tells us that they are investigating this incident.

Now, this unit was in operations in Anbar Province, and that, of course, is very much a hotbed of the insurgency in this country. And the U.S. military has originally told the relatives of these two service members that they'd been killed by enemy fire while on this operation, but now additional information seems to indicate that it might indeed have been a friendly fire incident. Now, the U.S. military says that this investigation is still very much ongoing, but that it will inform us once that investigation is completed -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Frederik Pleitgen, thank you so much for that report.

KEILAR: We're just getting word now that another pet treat is being recalled. The Food and Drug Administration says a type of dog biscuit from Sunshine Mills in Red Bay, Alabama -- again, that's Sunshine Mills -- contains a toxin that could be deadly. Now, at this point we don't know exactly which dog biscuits are at issue, but there is a place for you to start, Sunshine Mills.

Also, Menu Foods, that other pet food company, just announced it's recalling even more products. And as that list grows, so do the numbers of animals affected.

From Oregon today comes word 38 cats and dogs have likely died from the tainted pet food in that state alone. That is more than twice the number the Food and Drug Administration confirms for the entire nation.

LEMON: All right. New information on that cruise ship that is listing in the Mediterranean there. You're looking at passengers who are de-boarding probably in a way that they had not planned to.

Americans on board here. And we'll speak to the mother of one of the passengers vacationing from North Carolina.

KEILAR: Making a run for the money, months before anyone gets close to a voting booth.

Ahead in the NEWSROOM, the finer points of political fund-raising and what happens to the dollars that you donate.

And from the Land of the Midnight Sun to Fenway Park, by way of Royal Stadium. Keep your eye on the ball for a Major League debut.

That's ahead here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All of that money, where is it coming from? Have you ever contributed to a presidential campaign? Well, log on to CNN.com and then go to "Quick Vote". It's at the bottom right if you scroll down and see.

It looks like 82 percent say, no, they haven't contributed to a presidential campaign. Eighteen percent say yes.

So where is all the cash coming from? That's what we want to know. Probably folks with a lot of money. Well, fund-raising is a way to tell who is gaining traction in the race for the White House. Among Democrats, Hillary Clinton brought in $26 million. And Barack Obama, $25 million in the first three months of this year. Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani are the top fund-raisers among Republicans.

Where is this cash coming from? That's what I want to know. That's what everyone wants to know.

There is a $2,300 per-donor limit for money to be spent in the primaries, but campaigns can collect another $2,300 for the general election.

And our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, joins me now.

So, Bill, even with these limits in place, the candidates are raising records -- a record amount of cash. Lots of money. And the Democrats are outpacing the Republicans.

Is this a sign that a big change is -- and who is giving money to presidential campaigns this time around? Because Republicans usually outpace Democrats, right?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: That's right, usually Republicans give more money than Democrats. This is the first time on record in the -- where we have competitive races in both parties that the Democrats have out-raised the Republicans by about $27 million.

What it shows is there's a lot of enthusiasm and optimism among Democrats. A reporter I spoke to who was out in Iowa said, "You know, there's so much enthusiasm among Democrats, they want the presidential race to happen tomorrow. They are ready to vote." And they are giving money, because that's the only thing they can do right now.

LEMON: OK. So, they want it to happen tomorrow among Democrats. They want people to vote right away.

Barack Obama today said he's proud of the amount of money he's raised, Bill, and that if it came to -- it came from, rather, individuals.

Does that much money this early in the campaign really necessarily make him or Senator Clinton, or Mitt Romney, for that matter, does it make them the ones to beat in all of this?

SCHNEIDER: Well, I think each party has a number of different leading candidates. There's no single frontrunner. Hillary Clinton is at the top of the polls, but Barack Obama has matched her in money, and John Edwards is coming up very fast.

You've got three top candidates, leading candidates in the Republican Party. John McCain has a lot of good connections in the Republican Party. The top of the polls is Rudy Giuliani. Mitt Romney outperformed the others in fund-raising. I still think it's a wide-open race and, believe me, it hasn't started yet. A lot of the other candidates who didn't raise quite as much money did do respectably. Some of them raised $4 million, $6 million, and that means they have enough money to get off to a good start.

LEMON: Yes. And, you know, I was just searching for information as I was -- because I knew I was going to talk to you about this, Bill.

I found this -- money doesn't necessarily translate into a nomination, or, even, Bill, into winning. Because Phil Gramm in 1999 -- 1995, $8.7 million. Didn't even make it to the primary, right?

SCHNEIDER: That was a great shame. A lot of people think I look like Phil Gramm. He's a handsome man, but he didn't quite make it.

Howard Dean raised the most money in 2003, and he got knocked out right after the Iowa caucuses.

No, money doesn't mean everything, but it does mean something. It shows the sustainability, the viability of a campaign, how effective the organization is. I think the rule is, you need to reach a certain threshold of credibility by showing your ability to raise money. But after that, the difference between, say, $60 million and $65 million doesn't really make a lot of difference.

LEMON: I wish we could put you and Phil Gramm in a split, because you're a much better looking man than him.

And you know what? In 1999, let's see, Al Gore raised $8.9 million. And, of course, we know he didn't win.

Oh, there we go.

SCHNEIDER: There it is?

LEMON: Yes. You're a better looking guy than him. Yes, I see the resemblance, but, you know, there's not much comparison.

SCHNEIDER: But I did not raise $9 million.

And by the way, no candidate has ever raised double-digit money the way both Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney have raised that money, and Edwards and McCain in this first quarter of the invisible primary, the year before the election. They've broken all records. All of them have.

LEMON: Yes. If you do raise $9 million, don't forget about me.

I've got ask you this last question, though, Bill.

SCHNEIDER: Yes?

LEMON: So, this is the first presidential race where candidates are actively seeking money for the general election, and that seems pretty early on to me. I mean, you know, the primary hasn't even happened yet, and they are seeking money for the general election.

What happens if they don't make it? Do they have to give this money back?

SCHNEIDER: They do if they don't run in the general election, and if they accept public financing, which most of them say they won't do, because the money available from public money -- from public financing is not enough, they don't believe, to run a serious presidential campaign, then they have pledged that they will give the money back to the contributors. But they are raising the money now with the provision that if they don't accept the public financing, that money can be used if they become the nominee.

LEMON: Phil Gramm -- I'm sorry, Bill Schneider, thank you so much.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

KEILAR: It's 18 past the hour now, and here are three of the stories we're working on here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

This first one, actually, one of the most popular stories on CNN.com right now. No reports of injuries after 1,600 passengers and crew members were evacuated from a Greek cruise ship. The Sea Diamond began taking on water after it struck rocks off the island -- the Greek island of Santorini.

And 15 British sailors and marines are back home after being held by Iran for almost two weeks. They are undergoing medical checks and debriefings at a marine base southwest of London.

And a U.S. military official tells CNN that an Army helicopter that went down south of Baghdad today appears to have been damaged by small arms fire. Four of the nine personnel on board are hurt.

Taking wing over Iraq means training for some of the Iraq war's most hazardous duties. The simulation is so real it can even leave you air sick.

Ahead, a report you'll see only on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: It's the most eagerly awaited big league debut in years. His name? Daisuke Matsuzaka, a Japanese pitching sensation who took the mound this hour for the Boston Red Sox. The numbers say it all.

He throws six different pitches. He has a $52 million contract. And at least 127 reporters from Japan are following his every move.

And our Richard Roth is in Kansas City. He's also following Matsuzaka's every move.

Hi, Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Hello. First roll of the Dice-K seconds away here in Kansas City as the Japanese star goes against the Kansas City Royals, not one of the strongest teams.

I heard a roar back there. I don't know what happened. It could have been the first pitch against David Jesus of the Kansas City Royals.

Yesterday, a very large media contingent, especially from Japan, observing Matsuzaka as he practiced and warmed up for his Major League debut. I did ask yesterday some Japanese reporters and some fans what their expectations were of this $100 million-plus man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Personally, he will do a very good job this season. But it's a different world. So, that's why we are following him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he's being competitive, I guess, and everyone's covering every move of Matsuzaka.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I just hope he actually plays as well as everyone thinks he's going to play. I think there may be a lot of hype behind that. And no one knows yet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a little curious to how it is. There's been a lot of different people from other countries coming into Major League Baseball, and some have been good and some have been all right. You know?

So, it's a wait and see how it is. I know it's a big deal, that's for sure. So, big media attention.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dice-K?

ROTH: Yes, what about...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, Dice-K is going to be the best, man. There's nothing going to be like Dice-K coming into the 10th (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH And Dice-K is on the field ready to face the Royals. But there is 127, 130 Japanese media members here. The game is being broadcast live back to Japan.

A lot of these other media people here, Brianna, they don't have access to the rights back in Japan. So any piece of video they get before the game of the pitcher is extremely valuable. They are really not allowed to take any videotape during the game, and neither are we.

Back to you.

KEILAR: I haven't seen anything as crazy as that since Ichiro.

Richard Roth there for us in Kansas City. Thanks for following that.

LEMON: Richard should get us a signed baseball.

KEILAR: Sure.

Richard, are you listening?

LEMON: That would be nice.

There are new developments in the possible sale of a struggling automaker. Chrysler, we're talking about. A new offer is reportedly on the table.

Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with all the details on that.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello, I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Kyra Phillips.

Well, hopefully you've never had this sinking feeling. A cruise ship is on the rocks and so is the vacation for about 1200 people. We're keeping tabs on this evacuation. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

KEILAR: Taking a look now at this story coming out of Greece. The Greek island of Santorini, this listing ship, this is the Sea Diamond. It's a cruise ship that was carrying almost 1200 passengers as well as about 400 crew members and many of those passengers were Americans. That also includes about 30 students from the Raleigh, North Carolina, area. This ship evacuated all of these passengers. That's according to Reuters. Saying that all have been safety evacuated. But what happened here, is the Sea Diamond hit rocks. Because Santorini is a volcanic island and the ship hit a reef inside the volcano's lake like lagoon, but again, 1200 passengers, about 400 crew members have all been safely evacuated from the Sea Diamond.

LEMON: Let's talk about those British Sailors. It's an ending everyone was hoping for, safe and sound and they are at home. Fifteen Royal Marines and Sailors getting an energetic welcome hours after leaving Tehran and 13 days in captivity there. CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh is in the Cornish town of Hayle. A town with a good reason to celebrate today.

ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, HAYLE, ENGLAND: That's right. A lot of reason to celebrate. This being the hometown of one of those service members. A lot of calls as summed up in the local newspaper here for their hero to come home and it seems like those calls, as you mentioned, have been answered.

In reference to Nathan Summers, that's the 21-year-old Royal Navy service member, one of the 15 British service members recently released from Iran and now back at a Royal Marine base here in this part of the country. As you mentioned, these emotional pictures of the family members of the service members meeting the service members now that they are back safe and sound. Including in this case, Nathan Summers' mother and brother and girlfriend.

Back here in Hayle, Nathan Summers' hometown, I had a chance to sit down with his grandmother. She explained the emotional roller coaster that has been the last two weeks. First seeing her grandson on Iranian television, and then seeing her grandson in one of those finely tailored Iranian suits upon departing Iran, and then lastly, back on British soil. This is what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

APRIL RAWSTHORNE, NATHAN SUMMER'S GRANDMOTHER: Just excitement and overjoyed that Nathan is on his way home and everything has turned out fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAN MARSH: And she is not alone in that sentiment. If you take a look behind me over my shoulder, here you see the huge bed sheet that says welcome home, Nathan. This is the pub where Nathan used to work before he joined the Royal Navy. Everybody, including the grandmother and many of his friends here they started opening champagne bottles last night. You can just imagine what sort of party is going to take place when Nathan finally walks back through those doors.

LEMON: I'm sure they'll have more than a few pints, don't you think, Alphonso?

VAN MARSH: They've already started.

LEMON: Alphonso Van Marsh. A good reason to celebrate. Thank you so much for that report.

But we do have to tell you, one issue resolved and another one looms. This one on the island of Kish off the southern tip of Iran. An American citizen, Robert Levinson, of Florida, was last seen there about three weeks ago. Since then, nothing. No sign of him there. And his family hasn't heard a word. Levinson was reportedly working on a film. Kish Island is a unique place. Americans don't need visas to be there, and this is despite the fact that Iran and the U.S. have no diplomatic relations.

KEILAR: A U.S. Army helicopter crashed south of Baghdad today, near the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Latifiyah. All nine personnel survived but four are hurt. A U.S. military official tells CNN the chopper was damaged by small-arms fire, but it's not yet clear if it was bad enough to cause the crash. Enemy fire is blamed in the crashes or hard landings of eight U.S. military and contractor helicopters in Iraq this year.

And as we've seen time and time again, flying a helicopter over Iraq is very dangerous, sometimes even deadly business. CNN's Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre visiting Ft. Rutger, Alabama, to see firsthand how pilots are trained.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to the unfriendly skies of Fallujah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say were taking some kind of large caliber fire, RPG.

MCINTYRE: I'm sitting next to Major Mike Hanson, an instructor pilot, as we dodge flak in a blackhawk over Iraq. Except we're actually in a simulator 7,000 miles away. But it sure feels real. I think we pulled some Gs on that turn. Hanson is demonstrating a technique called run-and-dive. It's the opposite of the old Cold War doctrine of holding a position and firing from long range. In Iraq, that could be a fatal mistake.

MAJ. MIKE HANSON, APACHE INSTRUCTOR PILOT: The longer you stay in one general location, the more interest you are going to bring upon yourself.

MCINTYRE: Simulators like this one, at the Army's Aviation War- fighting Center at Ft. Rutger, Alabama, allow pilots in training to fly the same missing they'll fly in combat, without the danger. What kind of feedback do you get from the pilots who go through this training and actually fly the real mission?

HANSON: As they see it, they are thinking, gosh, this is just like we are flying in Ft. Rutger at the simulation center, obviously we don't have every single building out here and a lot of the weather effects may not be the same depending on what time of the year they show up.

MCINTYRE: But that's changing, too. This next generation virtual re-creation of Fallujah does have every single building and is constantly updated from satellite images. Brendan Kelly's working on a program that allows pilots to rehearse their mission on a laptop.

All of these buildings are exactly where they are?

CW4 BRENDAN KELLY, SIMULATION PROGRAMMER: Yes, and they are dimensionally and height wise accurate.

MCINTYRE: And the trees, too?

KELLY: Yes, they are all placed based on the imagery.

MCINTYRE: Back in the simulator, we've hit a building, encountering the red screen of death.

HANSON: You fly into something in the virtual environment, you are going to crash as well.

MCINTYRE: Some day, in the not too distant future, the technology may be so good that pilots will fly unmanned aircraft into battle by remote control. But the experience may still have a familiar side effect of flight.

Actually, I was getting a little motion sick there.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, Fort Rutger, Alabama.

LEMON: And we want to update you on that developing story that we've been telling you about. A cruise ship listing in the Mediterranean off the Greek island of Santorini. And joining us by telephone, is Denise Land of North Carolina. Her son, David, or Daniel, rather, is on board that ship or was on board. Because we understand that 1200 passengers have been evacuated from that. Have you spoken to him?

VOICE OF DENISE LAND, MOTHER OF STUDENT ON SHIP: Yes. He called me earlier which morning. His name is David. He called me at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard and said that his ship was sinking and that he was on the top deck of the ship. Separated from his group, I might add.

LEMON: Oh, my goodness. So what was that phone call like? I imagine it just scared you out of your wits.

LAND: I thought he was joking and playing with me. And I said, no, tell me what you are doing today. Mom, I had on a child life vest and they gave me an adult life vest and they are separating the males and females and they are trying to get us off the ship.

I said what have you got with you? He said, I have a cell phone and I think he said he had his camera. And a wallet. I asked him if he had a passport, and he said, no, that he did not have a passport. But an hour ago I did speak with him and he's on an island between Turkey and Greece. And he said they had taken his group and gave him I think he said bread and water. But I don't know what they gave him to eat. They are trying to make some arrangements to get back to Athens, Greece.

LEMON: According to Reuters, they are saying that everyone was safely evacuated from this ship, Ms. Land.

LAND: Right.

LEMON: Did he describe the circumstances? He said he had a wallet. He had a cell phone. Did he talk about how they got them off the ship and the process of getting him off the ship to shore?

LAND: Well, he did say that I guess they were having, it was 4:00 in the afternoon. They were eating, and they were out of their room. And that he saw some people running up with life vests on. And he wanted to go back to his room to get his personal belongings and they wouldn't let him go.

LEMON: Yes.

LAND: So they told him to get to the high side. Apparently it started to tilt and they had everybody go on the deck on the high side. LEMON: Yes.

LAND: And when they rushed the group around, he was separated from the group, but apparently when they dropped him off at this little island, they, he got back with his group.

LEMON: Now, you're saying that, you know, they made him go to the high side and he was, what, on his way to the cabin or at least he said, but did he hear in anything? Because we understand this is a volcanic area and so the ship hit some rock under the water.

LAND: He said he felt the ship rock a little bit.

LEMON: Okay.

LEMON: And that he heard it. But he said he was thinking that maybe they were getting close to port, you know. But he didn't think they'd hit anything until, he said that his cabin was about knee deep.

LEMON: Yes. Oh, my goodness. He was on one of the upper decks, right?

LAND: Yes, yes. He'd gone up to eat.

LEMON: And his cabin was knee deep? He tried to get back to it and see it, but he couldn't get back to it.

LEMON: So, how are you doing?

LAND: It's been a very different day. I'm glad that he's on dry ground.

LEMON: Yes, I bet you are.

LAND: And I hope this does not ruin him against travel.

LEMON: Yes, well, we're glad he's okay. And its good you spoke to him about an hour ago?

LAND: Right.

LAND: Denise Land, thank you very much. We're glad your son is okay, and if you talk to him and you have any more information, please call us here and let us know how he's doing.

LAND: I sure will, thank you.

KEILAR: Setting a new standard for what's standard in your car. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, we've got control issues. Buckle up, you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Only about three percent of vehicle crashes involve rollovers. But that tiny percentage causes 10,000 deaths every year. Now the federal government is stepping in with a new safety mandate from automakers. Anti-rollover technology in every new vehicle by the 2012 model year.

With me to talk about this is Csaba Csere. He's the Editor In Chief of "Car and Driver Magazine." I remember when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety this winter released the results. You can see it especially in an SUV. A car with electronic stability control. A car without. And these results were like night and day. So can you just explain to us what is electronic stability control and how does it work?

CSABA CSERE, CAR & DRIVER MAGAZINE: Well, it's a system that basically looks at where you are trying to drive the car. As you're going down the road, it looks at how far you turned the steering wheel. It knows how fast you're going and it calculates the path you are trying to go on.

And then there's a set of sensors that actually measures where the car is going. If the car is going where you are steering it, it's fine, nothing happens. But if the car isn't going where you are steering it, if it's wanting to spin out, or if it's simply wanting to go straight, stability control selectively applies the brakes and restores it to the path that you, the driver, have asked for and that's its benefit.

KEILAR: Kind of like a brain in your car almost, it seems like. But let's talk about SUVs. It's particularly important in SUVs, right?

CSERE: Absolutely. Because by keeping the car on the road, you know that's obviously a good thing. You don't run off the road and hit trees or whatever. But also, most of the rollovers that are a big problem in SUVs occur after you've left the pavement. You leave the pavement. You are in grass or mud, you get a little sideways and you hit a rut and the next thing you know the vehicle goes over. So if you can keep the car on the road in the first place, you have a much lower chance of having this rollover.

KEILAR: We're hearing that some safety groups are worried that this measure isn't going to be enough. That it really isn't going to be effective or strong enough. Do you think that's the case?

CSERE: Well, I think the only criticism you can make of this, is that it gives the manufacturers a lot of time. What we're saying here, what the DOT is asking for, is the stability control be optional by 2009 and standard by 2012. And, in fact, the 2012 could be moved up a little bit. Because quite a few cars already have stability control, either standard or available.

KEILAR: All right, now, the bottom line, let's get ride to this. Everyone wants to know is this going to cost me more money. Will it?

CSERE: It will cost a little bit more money. Stability control itself is only probably a couple hundred bucks, but you have to have anti-lock brakes on the car first before you can employ stability control and that's probably a $500 to $700 option and all cars don't have it, so ultimately when stability control becomes standard, anti- lock brakes will also become standard and car prices could go up $500 apiece.

KEILAR: Now also today, a lot of several vehicles posted some poor rear crash test results. These aren't necessarily as important, right, as the side or front impact? Because those tend to be more fatal crashes. These tend to be crashes that give victims sort of lifelong neck and back injuries. But what can car companies do to make their vehicles more safe in the rear impacts?

CSERE: Well, there's a couple of things. But one of the key things is supporting the head and neck area very well. And that means a headrest that is positioned in the right place. And is's also strong enough so that when the car gets the rear impact it doesn't deflect or bend or break. And in fact, you know, for most drivers, if you've got an adjustable headrest, you usually have to raise it up, at least if you're a man approaching six feet tall from the depressed position. Because even a good headrest doesn't protect you adequately unless it's really in the middle of the back of your head.

KEILAR: All right, Csaba Csere, "Car and Driver Magazine" Editor In Chief. Thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate your time.

CSERE: My pleasure.

LEMON: Let's get straight to entertainment news. And Sibila Vargas. Sibila, what's on tap today?

SIBILA VARGAS: Well on tap today, a Grammy Award winning couple have put the final note on their stormy relationship. Ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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KEILAR: These pictures coming to us out of north central New Jersey where law enforcement officers are still searching for two suspects in the shooting death of an FBI agent.

Here's how this happened. FBI agents were investigating in this area a string of recent bank robberies when they came upon suspects who were leaving a bank. This is near route 22 in Reddington. And then, a shootout between the FBI agents and these suspects. One suspect was captured. Two fled to nearby woods. As we said, law enforcement still searching for those two suspects. But the FBI agent who was wounded, taken to the hospital. We have confirmed has died there. Don?

LEMON: All right, Brianna, to showbiz news now and then there were eight. "American Idol's" rocker chick comes -- well, she comes up short. Sanjaya is safe. And the show nets its biggest number of votes cast this season.

CNN Entertainment Correspondent Sibila Vargas is in L.A. and she can't wait it talk about it. You notice that big pause when I talked about Sanjaya, didn't you?

SIBILA VARGAS, ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I know, and the laughter. I can't wait to talk about last night's "American Idol." I got to tell you Don, every year I say I'm not going to watch the show and every year I get sucked into it. The country said good-bye to it's rocker chick Gina Glocksen and it was a tearful one. Despite seeing her smile, you can tell she was definitely broken up.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kayli (ph), you are staying for another week. Which means Gina leaves us tonight on "American Idol."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VARGAS: Good-bye, Gina and then there was eight, and Sanjaya Malakar survives yet another week. Simon's attempt with reverse psychology calling his performance incredible. Well, it didn't work. The public did not say sayonara to Sanjaya. We'll have more about this 17-year-old who was better known for his crazy hairstyles than he is for his singing on tonight "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." Don, back to you.

LEMON: All right, that's kind of surprising. This one is a bit surprising, too. Whitney and Bobby, no more Whitney and Bobby, it's over?

VARGAS: That's right. Yesterday a judge put a stamp on their divorce papers and superstar Whitney Houston and singer Bobby Brown will officially be single again on April 24th. Houston will have custody of their 14-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina.

She also testified that she didn't need spousal or child support, adding that Brown was unreliable and that the child couldn't count on him. The former new edition front man has been in the trouble in the past for not paying child support for his other kids. We wish them the best.

LEMON: Yes, we certainly do wish them the best. It's always sad, you know, when people break up but, yes, we do wish them the best.

Also, some sad news, Sibila, about a director whose name we might not recognize, but we certainly know his work, don't we?

VARGAS: Absolutely. Yesterday morning, director Robert Clark, best known for the classic holiday movie "A Christmas Story" was killed in a head-on collision. The 67-year-old was driving an Infiniti with his 22-year-old son when they were struck by an alleged drunk driver. Both passengers in the other car were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The driver will be booked for investigation of gross vehicular manslaughter.

Now, besides the favorite "A Christmas Story," Clark also directed the comedy "Porky's" and just finished the new movie "Blonde and Blonder."

Tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," Idol outrage over a burning question, what if Sanjaya wins? As the "American Idol" contestant Sanjaya Malakar survives yet again, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" investigates what was once unthinkable? What happens if Sanjaya actually wins? The surprising and shocking scenarios on TV's most provocative entertainment news show, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on Headline Prime.

I am sure you are so curious about that one, Don.

LEMON: That would be surprising and shocking, don't you think, if he did win?

VARGAS: I think so. I think we'll be talking about it for years.

LEMON: Yes, that's probably the whole point of this. All right, thank you so much Sibila. We'll be watching tonight.

KEILAR: Passing it on. Veteran chopper pilots share their battle smarts with rookies headed for a war zone. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, a visit inside a top chopper training school. A report you'll see only on CNN.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Weather forecasters here in the U.S. are predicting the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season will likely be more active than last year's season. You can learn more at CNN.com.

Hurricane season begins on June 1st and ends on November 30th. It could see 17 tropical storms with five possibly becoming intense hurricanes.

In 2005, hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which devastated New Orleans and the Gulf region, were the two strongest hurricanes of 15 in a record-breaking season, with 28 significant tropical storms. Last year's mild season was attributed to the warm-water phenomenon El Nino that greatly reduced hurricane activity.

This interactive explains how hurricanes form. They begin as a tropical depression over the warm waters off the west coasts of Africa. These massive thunderstorms can move westward, gaining strength and eventually becoming hurricanes with wind speeds of 74 miles per hour or greater.

Also, check out this gallery highlighting the ten deadliest, costliest and the most intense hurricanes to hit the United States.

You can get more at CNN.com/hurricanes. For the dot.com desk, I'm Veronica De La Cruz.

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